The Chief of Staff of the Falintil-Defense Forces of Timor-Leste (F-FDTL), Taur Matan Ruak, told Lusa that never agreed with the presence of foreign troops in their country, and can break at any time who want to.

I, general, never accept an international presence because we fought 24 years, relying solely on my own strength, said Taur Matan Ruak, a few days off from the celebration of ten years of the popular consultation of 30 August 1999, which led East Timor to independence.

"They [foreign troops] are here because they were called by the state of East and there will be a day that will come out when they feel they are no longer useful," continued the head of the Timorese forces.

They are in East Timor about 750 Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the International Stabilization Force, as requested by the Timorese authorities during the institutional and security crisis in 2006, who had involvement of the armed forces and police, leaving several districts in a state of chaos and 150 displaced people.

"Anytime you want to leave, they leave. They should have left, but may be later, no problem," said the head of the East Timorese armed forces, making it clear that he will follow the guidance of political power.

"Who am I? I'm just a general under the guidance of political power," said Taur Matan Ruak, adding that the relationship between their forces and foreign "is never easy to tell the truth."

Ten years ago, Taur Matan Ruak was the commander of Falintil and was stationed with a thousand guerrillas in Uai Mori, the half-slope of the mountain of the Lost World.

On August 30, remembers having prevented the guerrillas from voting "for Indonesia to show confidence in people and in victory."

The actions of integrationist militias, supported by the Indonesian army, "were nothing, because what they did before the referendum was much worse," said Taur Matan Ruak

"Our struggle was not made on the basis of provocation but of our plans and our intentions, with clear objectives," he said.

After all, "was the first and only time that we would decide the victory and independence of our country," said the military commander.

"The guerrillas knew and were instructed in this regard that in the days when there was much carnage and confusion, was the day that we would win the war. It was not worth acting irrationally as they were doing and the Indonesian militias," explained.

The nearly one thousand deaths in the process of popular consultation "were a necessary evil," said Taur Matan Ruak.

"The latest statistics point to 180 thousand deaths (during the occupation of Indonesia], so thousand between 180 thousand, for God's sake," said the commander, who is "understandable frustration of people in Indonesia, after 24 years convinced they would win, "he said.

"They took a slap, it's understandable," he insisted.

Taur Matan Ruak also found that in the last ten years the East Timorese leadership felt difficulty in fulfilling the expectations of the people, and that despite the "scare of 2006, the country is on track.

The commander of the armed forces also noted that "the country's history has never been a bed of roses" within the 2006 crisis as "more a test of survival," the struggle for development.

"We are able to cope with shocks and to project the country," he said, concluding that "East is not a failed state."